Due to the Covid-19 virus, the office in Chapel Hill has been closed. For telehealth help with chronic conditions such as diabetes, food allergies, high blood pressure, GERD, weight management and the like, which benefit from medical nutrition therapy or for nutritional counseling for healthy eating or feeding your family during the pandemic, you can reach registered dietitian nutritionist Susan Wyler at 914-393-3299 to set up an online appointment, or email susanwyler@mac.com. We still offer testing for food intolerances as well as genetic testing for conditions that respond to nutritional support.

Our Services

Susan Wyler, MPH, RDN, LDN

Wyler Nutritional Wellness is dedicated to providing individualized dietary counseling that supports good health and medical nutrition therapy that addresses a range of chronic problems.

We begin by listening, because we believe each patient is unique, and we want to understand your story.  After examination of recent medical reports and labs results, we take a detailed dietary recall, including all supplements and prescriptions. Ongoing health issues as well as lifestyle patterns are taken into account to draw up a plan that is both effective and do-able for you.

In addition, we offer state-of-the-art testing for:

(Both of these tests are performed at CLIA and CAP-accredited labs.)

Once we get at the root of the problem, we provide an individualized dietary plan along with enticing original recipes, where desired. We don't subscribe to formalized "dieting." Instead, the goal is to change the way you eat so that meals are naturally healthier while remaining pleasing and satisfying. You will not experience deprivation or hunger, which are counter-productive.

It usually takes two to three visits to provide a diagnosis and detail a treatment plan. Physical activity and stress reduction are also important parts of integrative nutrition and wellness. Studies have shown that obesity and diabetes respond better to ongoing coaching.

Basic Wellness

Almost everyone who enters the office thinks they eat healthy, but there are many misconceptions about fad diets and what nutrients are in which foods. It takes a lot of education to understand how much you need of a particular nutrient, what constitutes a food allergy, and what are the specialized needs of certain chronic illnesses. Activity and stress levels are also highly correlated with health.

Savvy younger clients come to us because they know that the earlier wellness practices begin, the better and the more effective they can be in warding off the chronic diseases of older age. Poor nutrition and a sedentary lifestyle have been clearly implicated in cognitive impairment and dementia. But both proper nutrition and physical activity have been proven to help ward off, and in some cases even improve, mental and physical decline.

Did you know that aging begins in earnest by the age of 40? We are happy to work with anyone who wants to fine-tune their diet and investigate other ways of improving their health naturally.

Healthy Aging

 

Aside from all the chronic diseases that tend to show themselves as we mature—diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, cancer-- anyone over 40 has to concerned about weakening of bones and retaining lean muscle mass. Healthy aging means you do all you can to remain mentally sharp, active, and vital until the day you drop.  You engage in all the activities you wish, including an active a sex life if you so desire, retain keen mental function, and stay engaged with your community. No excuses because of a simple number.

As we mature, our nutritional needs change. We don't need the same amounts of vitamins and minerals we needed when we were younger. We require more of some and less of others. Our needs for physical activity do not go away, but moderate movement and attention to balance and flexibility are essential.  Some of the services for healthy aging we offer are:

WEIGHT CONTROL

Obesity: We have had excellent results with our weight loss program.  Though as I say to all my patients: "I don't counsel for weight loss; I teach how to eat healthy, and the weight will follow." I give all the credit to my many successful patients. Often they've previously tried numerous diets and weight loss plans, which have not been effective. What makes the difference in our program is a comprehensive approach to wellness and individually tailored eating plans, which emphasize more of a plant-based diet, though not exclusively vegetarian unless desired.

It may seem like a contradiction, but when a person is overweight or obese, they are almost always undernourished at the same time.  That's because the foods they are eating may offer too many calories, but are deficient in the vitamins, minerals, fiber, and trace elements they need. Often they are heavy despite the fact that they are often eating very little food. That's because not all calories are alike. We put the emphasis on the health of the gut microbiota.

After a detailed dietary analysis, we begin with a three-week hypoallergenic, alkaline diet that detoxifies while it regulates metabolism and jump-starts weight loss. Depending upon the response to this diet, we may test for hidden food allergies or gradually reintroduce each allergenic food to see if there is a reaction. This leads to an individualized maintenance diet, which retains all the good features of the cleansing program but allows more liberal meals.  Deprivation is never encouraged; we strive for long, slow weight loss.  Tasty recipes are supplied where needed. The result is a healthy way for you to eat for life.

Our program involves:

Weight Gain

People suffering from catabolic diseases like cancer and COPD or digestive diseases such as Crohn's, often need help maintaining their weight or gaining needed pounds to support their musculature.  Anxiety about certain foods—fostered by trends in the media, on the internet, and via many well-meaning but unscientific sources--often lead people to give up foods indiscriminately for fear of hidden food allergies, which may or may not be there. They lose too much weight and sometimes become malnourished.  We work with you individually to tease out the puzzle, identify which foods you can tolerate, and find a way of eating that works for you.

Diabetes, Pre-Diabetes and Blood Sugar Control

One of my greatest joys is seeing a patient who has been diagnosed by their physician as "prediabetic" devote themselves to improving their health and reverse the course completely.  For many, controlling blood sugar leads to weight loss, so there is a double benefit.

With type 2 diabetes, appropriate diet and moderate physical activity can greatly lower A1C and reduce the risk of the vascular complications that often accompany this potentially destructive disease. In fact, a landmark study showed that diet, exercise, and intensive counseling together were more effective at controlling blood sugar than Metformin alone.

Food Allergies and Intolerances

Hidden food allergies lie at the heart of much inflammation and contribute to fatigue and as well as a weakening of the immune system. Many people are not even aware they might have a slow-acting food allergy or intolerance that accounts for many of their symptoms.  Others believe they have multiple food allergies and take major food groups out of their diet without compensating, which can result in malnutrition.

We take the guesswork out of food allergies with a comprehensive program of either laboratory testing and/or a highly effective elimination diet.